WORCESTER – It’s been a decade-long chase, but the St. Mary’s softball team can finally call itself a champion.The Spartans finally cleared the last hurdle of a nine-year journey under head coach Colleen Newbury Saturday, when they overcame a shaky start to defeat Montachusett Vocational Technical Institute (Monty Tech), 8-5, to win their first-ever Division 3 state title.”It’s seemed like we’ve always been the bridesmaid and never the bride,” said Newbury afterward, dripping wet from a water-cooler shower her players dumped on her after the final out was made. “I’m just so happy for them and so proud ? they never quit.”The journey had its share of twists and turns, beginning in the very first year when the Spartans lost an excruciating game to Shawsheen in the North Sectional final (the first of four straight sectional final games with the Rams, three of which they lost in one strange way or another).After a couple of years of falling short, the Spartans were back in 2007 and were within two outs of advancing to the state semifinals when disaster struck (both in the way of a couple of tough umpiring calls that didn’t go their way and a couple of errors) and North Reading beat them in eight innings.Last year, they finally broke through, beating Austin Prep in the North final. However, they lost to West Bridgewater in the state semifinal on a scorching hot day – in good part because the air conditioner on the team bus broke down, setting forth a chain of events that resulted in starting catcher (and definite sparkplug) Erin McAndrews collapsing from heat exhaustion prior to the game.So, if there was any team that welcomed the cooler-than-usual June weather this year, it was St. Mary’s. And the Spartans were ready. They began spring practice at midnight on the first legal day, at the Extra Innings batting cages, with Newbury telling her team “we want to be the first ones on the field and last ones off.”Her high school coach and mentor, Ed Henry (who led Bishop Fenwick to seven straight state titles in the 1980s and 90s and whose daughter, Rachel, is a Spartan assistant), said after Saturday’s game, “I thought we (Ipswich, where he is now an assistant) were doing good starting at 6 a.m., but she beat me.”The pupil,” said Henry “has now become the master.”St. Mary’s started the season with seven straight wins, but finished as cold as last weeks’ weather – dropping eight of 12 before rebounding to win the consolation game of the John Holland tournament.Going into the post-season, Newbury told her players, “we won our first seven; and now we’re going to win our last seven.”St. Mary’s played seven games in the tournament, regaining the momentum that led people to believe, back in April, that this was finally going to be The Year. Newbury devised a unique pitching rotation of Vanessa LaFauci in the early innings and Sam Kiley at the end. That formula worked until Saturday. LaFauci fell victim to nerves by her teammates (three errors in the first two innings) and Monty Tech scored five runs in two innings (she also may have felt a little squeezed by the home plate umpire on a couple of close pitches).Kiley took over in the third, and she just shut Monty Tech down over the last five innings, allowing only three hits, with only one baserunner reaching second.”I thought she, herself, was the turning point of the game,” said Newbury. “She came out and stared at their hitters in a different way ? like there was no way they were going to beat her.”Kiley’s teammates settled down along with her, playing flawless defense the rest of the way and getting the bats cranking, led by second baseman Kristina Burri’s double and triple, and by the indomitable McAndrews, who was immense from Day 1 during the championship run.”It’s unbelievable how everything came together at the right time,” said Newbury “We really peaked when we had to.”